Dry January is, at least in the UK, an opportunity for people to give up alcohol for a month to recover from some of the excesses of the holidays. It is in that same spirit that during January, Permanent Style will not write about any new clothing. T...

One of the reasons Western and denim shirts have been so popular in recent years is their versatility.  On the one hand, their conventional pale blue means they sit easily beneath all manner of jackets or suits, while adding an intentional, unexpect...

UPDATE: This is a nice video from Diegos showing how espadrilles are made. You can see the better, neater hand sewing of the soles mentioned below.  I remember clearly when I got my first pair of espadrilles. I was 19, on holiday in Spain, and bough...

Simon, Would you be willing to do a post on (casual) summer dressing? It’s the area of dress I struggle with the most. Every time I go on summer/spring holidays I find myself browsing through the internet looking for a good mix of casual and el...

The memory that comes back vividly is cycling over to the Drake’s office, on a Boris Bike. I was going to see Matt and Nathan for some reason, and then going for a drink afterwards. I had a moment of sheer panic. Riding along, I started freaking ou...

When I first had this cotton jacket made, I noted that it was a tricky one to work into an outfit. The vintage cotton cloth (more details here) is rather rough and casual, yet the cut and style are quite smart. Having it as a double-breasted jacket...

When I travel, my default these days is a blouson over shirt and trousers.  It makes a nice switch from tailoring during the working days - perhaps a little more comfortable, but more importantly just a change that feels as good as a rest.  The...

I've been on holiday for the past two weeks, swimming every day, and have noticeably lost weight. I'm tightening the side adjustors on my trousers where I didn't before. It reminds me how frequently readers ask about such fluctuations in weight, a...

Today is a lovely day in London (the day I write this, that is, July 3, not the day it’s published). Sunny, a light breeze, a few clouds drifting across the sky.  It’s twenty-three degrees celcius. The kind of temperature where yo...

Not much of an excuse to post this, except to celebrate being on holiday.The nearest I can get is the Rapha gear, which is performing very well. There is some geeky satisfaction in demonstrating that wool (mix, jersey) and leather (shoes) perform bet...

Adam: Can you offer some advice on packing for traveling and extended holidays? I will be on a 10-week holiday in western Europe this late summer-fall. I am at a loss as to how many sport coats, shoes etc I should pack. I know that I will be able to ...

Great as Instagram is, a definite flaw is its lack of an effective archive. There’s no way to search old images, so unless you save an image yourself, you can't find old pieces or browse effectively.  Just as important a frustration - for me - ...

Gauthier Borsarello is one of the most refreshing people in menswear today. I hope that came across in our recent piece on his shops and projects in Paris - including Holiday, Le Vif and L’Etiquette magazine.  What we didn’t get a chance to go i...

Philip Warkander is a Swedish academic, lecturer at Lund University in fashion studies.  We got to talking recently thanks to an introduction by Dag at Saman Amel, and it was interesting how many of the topics Philip covers - from the value placed o...

At Eden Roc on the blue MediterraneanEsquire, August 1936: "One of the world's most fashionable swimming holes, Eden Roc at Cap d'Antibes, has no beach at all, just steps and all sorts of intricate plateaus that have been cut out of the rocks.Against...

This summer suit from Sartoria Cornacchia was made for me last year, and I would like to apologise for the delay in covering it. I didn’t get around to shooting the suit until the end of the Summer; events and the pop-up then got in the way; and by...

With the slow disappearance of the tie from the male wardrobe, the shirt collar has become increasingly important. It now bears almost sole responsibility for framing and flattering the face.  However, guides to shirt collars - such as this one -...

In normal menswear - not even classic menswear, but everyday, everybody menswear, everything outside big fashion brands - retailers can often have more influence than designers. People like Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop, Isabel Ettedgui of Con...

By Tony Sylvester “A few years back, I posted a photo of Paul Weller on my Instagram (above). It was taken in 1984 in his Style Council era, where much to the consternation of the Mod faithful, he was constantly tinkering with his attire - alienati...

Five bags might seem like a lot - certainly compared to shirts or ties, as featured previously in this series.  But given you’ll need some kind of suitcase, plus a day bag, and probably a backpack for cycling, walking or sports, five isn’t th...

In recent weeks two friends inadvertently coined similar phrases, in relation to what they saw as wrong with clothing today.  One referred to the buying of large volumes of cheap clothes - often plastic, often made in poor labour conditions - as ‘...

Pitti Uomo this year felt busier than last, but that was a little deceptive - two of the big buildings were still closed for lack of exhibitors, and more squeezed into the main pavilion. The show’s future still feels a little uncertain.  My time w...

The 'travel capsule' posts we've done are always popular - I think because they are useful for actual travel, but also for anyone looking to build a versatile wardrobe in general. In that way they're one more addition to the 'wardrobe building' serie...

I'm back! Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice week in the amiable arms of Manish, and you haven't all decided he is better in every respect than me. Although even if you have, fear not - he will be writing again very soon, including the second part...

*NB: The black shawl actually has black-horn buttons, not light brown as in the sample shown.* After a good few weeks' delay, I'm pleased to say that the Indulgent Shawl-Collar Cardigan is finally back in stock - in a new black iteration as well as n...